


Like Nowhere On Earth

by salamadersaurus_rex



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: AU, F/F, Multi, human!kara, nb!vasquez
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-11-22 18:26:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11385846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salamadersaurus_rex/pseuds/salamadersaurus_rex
Summary: "“You’ll be going back to the Cretaceous today,” J’onn says. “Approximately seventy million years ago.""The Prehistoric Park AU no one asked for.





	1. Coffee and the Cretaceous

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the miniseries Prehistoric Park, in which Nigel Marvin hides in bushes being excited by dinosaurs.

“Kara what the hell are you doing here?” Alex hisses. She’s pressed into the dirt, the stink of loam in her nostrils and her sister’s wide blue eyes staring back at her through the thick ferns.

Kara wriggles closer on her elbows. “I wanted to help.”

Far, far above them, something rustles. Alex reaches out a dirty hand and clamps it over Kara’s mouth. On her other side, Lucy takes the safety off her tranq gun.

“That’s not gonna work,” Maggie whispers harshly. She’s almost on top of Alex, not daring to move.

“Not on whatever’s up there,” Lucy grumbles.

“Major Lane if you tranquilise my sister I will leave you stranded seventy million years in the past.”

“If you guys don’t shut up we’re all going to be left _dead_ seventy million years in the past,” Vasquez snaps, and the three bickering women have the grace to fall silent.

Something, Kara thinks it’s a leaf, falls slowly down from the treetops, spiralling on the still air like smoke caught on the wind. Except then it extends its wings and soars gracefully away, a meter or so above their heads.

“Hey, our first dinosaur,” Maggie whispers, once it’s gone.

“Which kind?” Kara plucks Alex’s hand from her mouth, curious.

“I'm a botanist, little Danvers."

Kara pouts. 

"Okay, uhh, late Cretaceous, Argentina… if I had to hazard a guess, he’s a-“

 _Thud_. 

The ground beneath them shakes, tiny bits of rotting leaves shivering with the sound of heavy footsteps.

_Thud. Thud._

“A pterosaur.” Maggie murmurs.

“And what’s that?” Kara points and Maggie’s gaze follows her finger, up, up, up far above her head.

 “A very, _very_ good reason to run.”

* * *

_Six hours earlier…_

* * *

Kara scrubs at her hands, filling the sink with soapy water thick and swirling with paint. She hadn’t been able to sleep, the sweltering midsummer heat pushing her out of bed and to her wide bay windows, and the sinking moon had been too beautiful not to paint. Except now she has ten minutes before Alex is due to pick her up and if Kara gets paint on her Ducati she’ll probably make her get the bus.

Kara’s not sure her new workplace has a bus stop. Maybe they spent too much money on the time portal. That’s something Kara’s still not sure she’s gotten over. She wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t watched her own sister sprint out of it, followed by a small, angry botanist and a larger, angrier woolly mammoth.

Doctor James Olsen, the head vet at the aptly named National City Prehistoric Park, had just smiled gently at her, offered her a cup of tea and asked if she’d had any experience treating big animals before.

“Dogs, mostly. Some cats, the odd lizard.”

James had grinned. “We’ll get you up to speed.”

Through the still open window Kara hears Alex’s motorbike pull up to the curb. She hurries over to the window, waving at Alex before shutting it. Alex knocks as she’s shoving everything she thinks she’ll need into her empty gym bag,

“It’s open!”

Alex opens the door and leans against the frame. She’s dressed in leathers, has a helmet and a jacket in her hands for Kara.

“Are you bringing the whole library with you or just most of it?”

Kara zips the bag shut, takes the helmet and shrugs into the jacket whilst Alex locks her apartment for her. “They don’t teach you about mammoths at vet school, Alex.”

“Harriet’s fine,” Alex says as she leads the way down the stairs. “Did you get anything on pterosaurs?”

“Is that what you’re bringing back in the TARDIS today?”

“Maybe.” Alex holds the door open and Kara steps out into the street. It’s like any other day, except Eve’s in charge of the clinic and Kara’s on her way to a top secret government science facility in the desert to rescue dinosaurs with her big sister.

She settles onto the bike behind Alex, puts her helmet on as Alex revs the bike, scaring a couple of pigeons and the postman.

“Ready?” Alex asks, over her shoulder.

Kara gives her a thumbs up, and then they’re peeling away from the curb, heading downtown for the road that will take them out to the desert. It’s a forty minute ride. Alex can do it in thirty but Kara told her not to ride like a maniac, so they take the curves at a pace Kara can enjoy watching the city peter out into the dust and sand of the desert.

A dark, brooding mass on the horizon soon grows into the outer wall of the park. Kara’s barely seen any of it, her visit restricted to the clinic, the Director’s office, and the time portal, but Alex tells her it’s “fucking enormous.”

The wall grows and grows, until it’s stretched out as far as Kara can see. Alex is heading for the large gate. They have to stop three times on the long road to flash their badges for security. Finally they pull into the car park, and Kara stiffly climbs off the bike. They must be early, because there’s only a few dusty cars and a couple of bikes.

“Come on,” Alex says, and Kara adjusts the bag on her back before following her sister towards the gate.

“What time does your shift start?” Alex asks as they near the gate, which is made out of a thick, dark metal the Director told her could withstand being hit by a missile. Or a charging Triceratops, although they haven’t tested that yet.

“Eight.”

“Want to get coffee before you start? We have a great cafeteria.”

“Mmhmm.”

Alex rests a comforting hand on Kara’s arm, and they both pause. Kara gazes nervously into Alex’s eyes.

“You’re gonna be fine, Kara,” Alex promises. “You’re the best vet I know. I love you.”

"Love you." Kara wraps Alex in a brief hug. By the gate an agent steps out of the shadows, and Alex waves over Kara’s shoulder. “Hey, Vasquez.”

“Danvers.” They grin at Kara, who detangles herself from Alex. “Other Danvers.”

Kara feels herself relax slightly as Vasquez checks her and Alex’s ID’s. They’re friendly, and wink at her as they press the button to open a small door at the base of the gate. “Alex’ll look out for you,” they say. “Make her get you the caramel latte.”

Kara laughs. “I will.”

“And get me one too!” Vasquez shouts at Alex. “I’m coming with you.”

“Where are you going?” Kara asks Alex as they walk through the gate.

“The late Cretaceous,” Alex says simply. Kara just gapes at her back as she makes her way towards the main building.

It’s made of dark glass and a kind of bluish metal that glints brightly in the morning sunlight, and shaped like a crescent moon, the edges meeting the outer park wall to make a wide, oval shaped area between the two structures. This is filled with a meadow of wild grass and flowers growing freely.  A gravel path runs through the centre of the meadow, lined with a low, white fence.

Wide, glass doors swish open for Alex and Kara as they walk into the lobby. Kara’s eyes are as wide as when she first saw it, taking in the huge _Liopleurodon_ skeleton hanging over her head. Two corridors branch off to her left and right, one headed to the tech labs, the other to the rest of the main building. There’s a wide window at the back of the lobby to let in natural light. It has a nice view of a courtyard, the water feature where a small herd of brass sauropods tramp happily in a circle beneath a fountain shaded with trees.

Two women are sat by the fountain chatting, one in a white lab coat and the other in the same uniform as Vasquez. Alex strides over to the window and bangs on it, startling them both. The woman in the lab coat flips her middle finger at Alex, and Alex laughs.

“Doctor Sawyer and Major Lane,” she says to Kara. “Want me to introduce you or should we get coffee first?”

“Coffee,” Kara says, glad she has Alex with her on her first day to stop her getting overwhelmed by too many new things. She links their arms together and Alex guides them down the right hand corridor, round a couple of bends to a large, almost empty cafeteria.

Doctor Olsen waves from his seat in the corner. There’s another man with him, young and pale that Alex tells her is called Winn.

“He’s in R&D with Lena Luthor. If you ask he’ll give you a tour of the labs.”

“Did they invent the time portal?”

Alex nods, asks for two caramel latte’s, and one for Vaquez whenever they come in. “Lena developed a device that moves objects instantaneously. Paired with what she, Winn and the Director built, we can go anywhere, any time in the past.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” Kara says.

Alex just grins and picks up their drinks. James waves them over and Alex asks if Kara wants to sit with them.

“Sure.”

“Hey Kara,” James says as they sit down. “Winn this is my new vet, Kara Danvers.”

Winn waves, but doesn’t look up from his tablet.

“This is Winn Schott,” James says. “He’s antisocial today.”

Winn blushes. “Sorry, I have to fix this code before the jump today.”

“Anything wrong?” Alex asks, her tone slightly menacing.

“I – uh, no, Dr Danvers, it’s, it’s all fine-“

Kara swats Alex’s elbow. “Don’t be mean.”

Alex grumbles. “Don’t get us stuck there.”

James checks his watch and turns to Kara. “Want me to show you to the clinic?” he asks. “Get you set up before rounds?”

“Yes, please.” Kara tries to draw Alex’s attention from poor Winn, who’s trembling and trying to explain that the iffy code won’t send Alex and her team into the wrong time period or an active volcano.

“Go,” Alex waves Kara off. “Good luck!”

Kara shoulders her bag and picks up her coffee, finishing it as James leads her out of the cafeteria. He gives her a brief tour as they head down the corridor, pointing out offices, store rooms, the way to the library filled with books on palaeontology and animal care Director J’onzz brought in from all over the world.

Kara blushes when she realises she didn’t need to bring all the books she had, but James just smiles and says they can never have enough reference books on hand. He holds open the door to the clinic for Kara. She finds herself in a small, white painted waiting room with three doors leading off it.

One has a little brass plaque that reads _Dr Kara Danvers, DVM_ , and James gestures to it. “That’s yours.”

Kara tries to stifle her grin. It had taken a lot of persuasion from Alex to even get her to interview, but now she was here, finally, somehow about to start a crazy job treating _mammoths_ and _dinosaurs_ , and she couldn’t be more excited.

“I always keep my door open,” James carries on, pointing to his own office next to Kara’s. “I’ll let you get settled in, rounds start in ten.”

There’s another door leading off the waiting room that Kara knows from her interview leads to the clinic proper, and it swings shut after James, leaving her alone. Kara heads into her new office. It’s small, but bright with natural light coming in from a large window looking out over an empty paddock James told her is for examining bigger animals. There’s a comfy couch in the corner, a desk Kara dumps her gym bag onto and a small bookshelf, already half-filled with reference books. Kara slips the books she brought with her onto it.

She takes out her bag with her equipment in it, makes sure everything’s there. Someone has left a white coat hanging from the back of the door and Kara shrugs into it, straightens the collar out. She takes a deep breath.

Alex had been working at the park for two months, unable to tell anyone what she was doing until Kara accidentally found out when a confidential email was sent to the wrong Dr Danvers. Now Kara’s here, working with her sister to _bring extinct species back from the dead_. She’s nervous, of course she is, something coiling and wriggling in the pit of her stomach that makes her grimace, but she puts her game face on. She’s seen her sister bring back a woolly mammoth, she’ll be damned if she’s not going to help bring back something more.

James appears in the doorway and knocks politely. “Ready, Dr Danvers?”

Kara nods. “Ready.”

* * *

Alex gets a text off J’onn just after Kara and James leaves. She glares at Winn as she makes her way out of the cafeteria. “Fix it, Schott.”

The Director’s office is on the top floor of the main building, tucked between admin offices people are scurrying back and forth between carrying sheaves of papers. Alex has only been up here a few times; J’onn prefers walking about the facility, checking on things himself and scaring the crap out of Alex by sneaking into her lab to wait for her.

Maggie is waiting outside J’onn’s office, and she looks up when Alex approaches. They hadn’t got off to the best of starts, coming from different, competitive fields and Alex has to admit she’d been jealous when their first missions through the time portal were to gather flora and nothing else. But over the months they’d grown closer, and whilst they still had a teasing, workplace rivalry going, they were firm friends. Friends. Alex can almost hear Lucy in her head saying _is that what the kids call it these days._

“Danvers.” Maggie greets her with a soft smile, her voice rough and Alex knows she was up all night studying for their next jump.

“Sawyer,” Alex replies. “Did you go to bed at all after Lucy and I left?”

Maggie’s saved from answering by J’onn opening his door and beckoning them inside. His office is small but neat, papers and books and fossils arranged on the desk, the wood panelled walls lined with bookshelves and hung with paintings. Alex and Maggie sit in the chairs placed in front of J’onn’s desk.

“We’re still waiting for-“

The door swings open again and Lucy hurries in.

“Never mind. Take a seat, Major.”

Lucy flops down next to Maggie, winks at Alex. J’onn settles into his own chair, picks up some paperwork. It’s boring legal stuff only Lucy’s properly read. She’d explained the gist of it, something about it being an NDA mixed with a disclaimer, the Terms and Conditions of time travel, basically. J’onn made them each sign one for every jump, and a couple more when they got back. Mostly Alex, though, because it turned out there was a lot of paperwork involved with accidentally bringing back an angry mammoth.

“You’ll be going back to the late Cretaceous today,” J’onn says. “Approximately seventy million years ago. Dr Sawyer, Dr Danvers, you’re both tasked with bringing back plant and soil samples, and a small,” he glares at Alex, “ _small_ creature. Major Lane your job is to keep them in one piece.”

“Sir.”

“Are you all ready?”

The three of them nod.

“Dr Danvers, I’m leaving it up to you to decide on a species and where to house it. Take transport from the garage. Dismissed.”

Alex, Maggie and Lucy file out of the room. J’onn collects the papers they’d signed, neatly places them in a tray ready for HR to collect. He makes sure his inbox tray is empty. Alex’s first approved animal retrieval is bound to have big consequences in the form of stacks and stacks of paperwork.

Maggie yawns as they walk down the stairs to the ground floor.

“Late night, Sawyer?” Lucy asks.

“I don’t think she even slept,” Alex jokes.

“Not even after we left?”

Alex shushes her as Vasquez hurries past, no doubt on their way to sign their own paperwork. Lucy and Maggie share a look.

“Listen, Danvers…”

Alex pretends not to listen, rushing down the last few stairs. “I’m going to take the Triumph out to the far paddocks.”

“Those are only for the big guys, Alex.”

“You don’t think I’m tough enough for a Tiger, Lane?”

“You know what I meant. I’m coming too. Mags, get some damn coffee in you.”

Alex pauses at the lift to the underground garage. “Lucy I don’t need you babysitting me.”

“I’m not babysitting, I’m making sure you don’t bring a Brachiosaurus back.”

“We’re going to the Cretaceous Lane, not the Jurassic.”

“Whatever.”

Maggie rests a hand at the small of Lucy’s back. “Maybe I should come with you two.”

Lucy leans into her touch. Alex folds her arms over her chest, tries not to be jealous of the way Lucy’s eyelashes flutter at the warmth of Maggie’s palm.

“Danvers?” Maggie asks.

Alex sighs. “Go get some coffee. We’ll be okay.”

“We need to talk,” Maggie says. “After the jump.”

Alex bites her lip, but she nods. Lucy does too. After a lingering look between the two women, Maggie heads off to the cafeteria. Alex pushes the button and the lift doors ding open. It’s a small space, but a short trip. Neither of them say anything until they reach the garage.

Alex starts towards the park’s small collection of motorbikes but Lucy stops her. “Alex.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t want to fight you.”

Alex can’t meet her gaze, staring intently at the concrete floor instead. Lucy keeps her voice quiet in case it echoes.

“I know this is scary, I do. Especially at work. I served under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and it’s hard, even now… but me and Maggie, we’re here for you. Whatever happens, okay?”

Alex finally looks up. The nerves are plain on her face, her eyes shining in the dim garage lights, but she bites her lip and nods. “I don’t wanna fight you either.”

Lucy smiles. “Good. Although, we may have a bit of an argument over who gets to ride the Triumph first.”

Alex scoffs. “Me, obviously.”

“Umm, no. I think you’ll find it’s me.”

“I’m the one doing the research.”

“I’m a Major.”

“Don’t pull rank on me, Lane. Come on, it’s my sister’s first day. By proxy you have to be nice to me.”

Lucy laughs. “I wonder how you’re sister’s getting along.”

* * *

Harriet the mammoth is fine and healthy. She tickles Kara’s ear searching through her hair with her trunk and Kara giggles, tickles Harriet’s trunk right back.

“She likes you,” James says from where he’s leaning against the fence.

Harriet’s paddock is close to the main building. After checking on a couple of small, prehistoric mammals being watched in the clinic, James had taken Kara down to a garage under the main building. They’d found Alex and Major Lane arguing over a motorcycle, said a brief hello and taken a jeep up the ramp and out into the park.

Kara had stared excitedly out the window as James drove past the security building, stopping after a few minutes of desert by an area fenced off by a high, electric fence.

“Winn and Lena are geniuses,” he’d said, pressing a button to open the gate and driving through into an area suddenly filled with lush wild grass, pine trees dotted around like they hadn’t just moments ago been driving through the desert. “I don’t know how they made all this stuff grow.”

Kara makes a mental note to ask them as she heads back to the jeep, still in awe of everything new to the park she’s seeing.

“Where next?” she asks excitedly.

“Back to the clinic.” James smiles at Kara’s pout. “The portal’s not been up and running long. Most of the trips have been to collect flora to make the habitats better suited to the animals.”

“So Harriet and the _Ceratogaulus_ are the only animals you have so far?”

“So far.” James drives out of the gate, and starts driving back to the main building. “I hear your sister’s making a trip for another animal today though.”

“Yeah.” Kara perks up. “She’s going to the Cretaceous.”

“Did she tell you what species she’d bring back?”

“No. Oh god I hope it’s nothing dangerous.”

James takes his eyes off the road for a moment to watch Kara’s forehead crinkle. “She’s not likely to bring back anything dangerous, is she?”

“I don’t know. When she was really little she brought a poisonous snake into the house, she just played with it until her dad found her. We still don’t know where she got it.”

James whistles in astonishment. They drive in silence for a moment, until James asks, gently, “ _Her_ dad?”

“Oh, I’m adopted.”

“I’m sorry, Kara. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“No, it’s… I mean, it would have come up eventually. My parents died in a fire. Alex’s took me in, my cousin knew them. You’d like him, I think.” Kara takes a deep breath. “I grew up surrounded by a loving family, with the best sister I could have wished for. Alex always fought for me, always took care of me. I took this job because she asked me too, actually.”

James slows the car as they get closer to the main building. “Do you want to watch Alex and her team go through the portal?”

“We can do that?”

James grins. “Yeah. We can watch through the lab. You can properly meet Lena and Winn.”

Kara can feel a smile growing on her face. “I’d like that. Thanks, James.”

* * *

Lena Luthor is a stunningly beautiful woman who can command the attention of an entire room. Kara and James watch from the back of a crowd of technicians as she briefs them on the jump. The tech labs are sparkly clean, brightly lit by overhead lights and the huge, wall length window set in the side of the main lab that looks out over the passageway leading left to right from the holding paddock to the time portal.

Lena dismisses her audience with a “good luck,” and makes her way over to James and Kara. Winn follows, holding out a tablet so she can scan the changes he made to the code earlier. She makes a suggestion and he scampers away towards a very expensive computer at the other side of the lab.

“Dr Olsen,” Lena says brusquely. “And?”

“Kara. Danvers. Dr, Dr Danvers.” Kara blushes furiously. She misses the way the corner of Lena’s mouth quirks up.

“Dr Kara Danvers. I’m Lena Luthor.” She holds out a pale hand, and Kara takes it, marvels at the callouses she didn’t expect to feel.

“Kara’s here to watch her sister go through the portal.” James says.

“Exciting, huh?” Lena raises an eyebrow at Kara.

“Yeah! I mean… for me. You must have done this loads of times by now, I bet it’s, super boring. For you.”

Lena laughs, quietly. “Actually I get excited every time we start it up too. Do you want to see how it works?”

Kara nods enthusiastically and Lena guides her over to a panel of blinking lights and switches set on a pedestal in front of the big window. James watches with his arms folded as Kara listens earnestly to everything Lena says, asking questions and nodding along with Lena’s explanations. It’s the first time since he met her that James has seen Lena warm up to someone so quickly, and it makes him happy to watch her smiling at Kara as she tries to understand the science, a look in her eyes that tells James she and Kara are going to get on just fine.

Winn’s watch beeps as he comes to stand next to James. “Time to get this party started, huh?”

“Alright people!” Lena yells. “Seventy million years BCE, let’s go!”

Out through the big window Kara can see Alex, Dr Sawyer, Major Lane and Agent Vasquez file out of the holding paddock and into the passageway. Lane and Vasquez are carrying guns. The passageway is blocked off by high metal walls all the way down, strong enough to funnel whatever Alex brings back towards the park. Lena told her the window was made of a special glass designed to withstand an explosion. Alex spots Kara and waves.

Lena lets herself into the passageway through a small door set in the window, hands Alex a pair of spikes that Alex tucks into her backpack. Lena starts handing out gas masks, and Kara’s stomach sinks. She collars Winn as he hurries past.

“Why do they need gas masks?”

“Just a precaution,” Winn says. “It’s not like we have exact maps of the area we’re sending them to.”

“So you _could_ drop them in a volcano?!”

Winn waves his hands, distressed by her raised voice and Kara quiets immediately. “Winn. Is it dangerous through that portal?”

“Yes, yes. Of course it is, it’s prehistory.”

Lena comes back in and closes the door behind her. She hurries over to the pedestal, flips a couple of switches and signals to Alex. Alex raises a hand, winks at Kara, and then she, Maggie, Lucy and Vasquez set off towards the time portal, which has started glowing and swirling and _roaring_.

Lena starts counting down from five.

“Five.”

Kara glances round her frantically. She spots a spare gas mask hanging on a hook.

“Four.”

Alex and her team are a few steps from the portal.

“Three.”

Kara snatches the gas mask up, everyone around her distracted.

“Two.”

She makes her way to the door, opens it easily.

“One.”

Alex and her team disappear into the time portal. Kara tugs on the gas mask, sprints down the passageway and hurls herself in after them.

* * *

Alex, Lucy, Vasquez and Maggie step through the portal to find themselves in a lush forest, surrounded by towering trees and huge ferns, the rich scent of recently turned soil filling their noses.

“Huh, this is ni-oof!”

All four of them are knocked over into the bushes by something. Lucy and Vasquez scramble for their weapons, but Alex shouts at them to stop.

“It’s Kara!”

“Kara?”

Close by something huge roars.

“Shit!”

“Kara what the hell are you doing here?” Alex hisses. She’s pressed into the dirt, the stink of loam in her nostrils and her sister’s wide blue eyes staring back at her through the thick ferns.

Kara pulls off the gas mask, wriggles closer on her elbows. “I wanted to help.”

Far, far above them, something rustles. Alex reaches out a dirty hand and clamps it over Kara’s mouth. On her other side, Lucy takes the safety off her tranq gun.

“That’s not gonna work,” Maggie whispers harshly. She’s almost on top of Alex, not daring to move from where Kara knocked them down.

“Maybe not on whatever’s up there,” Lucy grumbles.

“Major Lane if you tranquilise my sister I will leave you stranded seventy million years in the past.”

“If you guys don’t shut up we’re all going to be left _dead_ seventy million years in the past,” Vasquez snaps, and the three bickering women have the grace to fall silent.

Something, Kara thinks it’s a leaf, falls slowly down from the treetops, spiralling on the still air like smoke caught on the wind. Except then it extends its wings and soars gracefully away, a meter or so above their heads.

“Hey, our first dinosaur,” Maggie whispers, once it’s gone.

“Which kind?” Kara plucks Alex’s hand from her mouth, curious.

“I'm a botanist, little Danvers."

Kara pouts. 

"Okay, uhh, late Cretaceous, Argentina… if I had to hazard a guess, he’s a-“

 _Thud_. 

The ground beneath them shakes, tiny bits of rotting leaves shivering with the sound of heavy footsteps.

_Thud. Thud._

“A pterosaur.” Maggie murmurs.

“And what’s that?” Kara points and Maggie’s gaze follows her finger, up, up, up far above her head.

“A very, _very_ good reason to run.”

Carefully, so as not to startle the huge dinosaur towering above their heads like a skyscraper with legs, the five of them get up. It makes its way slowly, massively past them, completely oblivious to the humans in its shadow. It takes half a minute to go by, leaving huge footprints and a mess of torn foliage in its wake.

“We could just go back now,” Lucy says.

“But my soil samples-“

“Can wait,” Alex says gently. There’s a glint in her eye Kara recognises.

“What are you planning, Alex?”

“J’onn said something small.”

“That is _not_ fucking small, Danvers!”

Alex winks at Lucy. “It is. For a Sauropod.”

And then she’s off, running after the dinosaur as it crashes and mangles its way through the forest. The four of them share a quick look, and then set off after Alex. They catch up with her at the edge of the forest, she’s standing with a look of awe on her face, watching a herd of sauropods gathering in the wide open space beyond the trees.

“There’s twelve,” Alex says. “If we can funnel them into the time portal, we could have a breeding herd. And look!” she points out a much smaller sauropod amongst the herd. “A baby!”

“You sound like Wonder Woman but with dinosaurs,” Lucy grumbles.

“It is kind of cute,” Vasquez says.

“Alex, you can’t seriously be thinking about bringing the whole herd back to the park,” Kara says.

“Well I’m not going to split them up.”

Maggie sighs. “J’onn did say you had the choice of species.”

Lucy whirls to face Maggie. “What? You can’t be ride or die this early on.”

Maggie shrugs. Alex isn’t paying attention, instead she’s unpacking the spikes Lena gave her.

“These connect us to the time portal in the future,” Alex tells Kara. “I just have to plant them wide enough apart to fit a whole herd of _Saltasaurus_ through.”

Kara sighs, snatches one of the spikes. “Okay, I’ll take the forest, you sneak round the other si- hey!”

Alex snatches the spike back. “No. I’m not putting my sister in danger of being trampled to death by dinosaurs.”

“I’m stronger than you think, Alex.”

“Not as strong as a seven ton dinosaur.”

Kara frowns. “Okay. What did you say when you asked me to take this job?”

“Kara.”

“‘We can save everything together.’ That’s what you said.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny-“

Kara takes the spike back, and Alex grumbles but lets her. “Fine. Let’s save _Saltasaurus_ together. But you’re taking Vasquez. Vas? Don’t kill my sister.”

“I’ll try.”

Kara grins and heads off down the edge of the forest with Vasquez. Alex rests her head in her palm. “What have I done?”

“You’ve let her go her own way,” Maggie says gently. She makes sure Alex can see her and has plenty of time to stop her before she reaches out to take her hand. Alex lets her.

“Alex? Lucy told me you guys talked.”

“Yeah. I’m just… this is all new.”

“Rescuing dinosaurs from extinction or hooking up with your two best friends?” Lucy asks.

Alex chuckles. “Both? I think I’m better at the dinosaur thing, though.”

“Of course you are,” Lucy scoffs. “You have like four palaeontology degrees. They don’t do PhD’s on polyamory.”

“Nice one,” Maggie whispers, and Lucy high-five’s her.

“Is that what this is?” Alex asks, lip between her teeth. “Are we together?”

“Only if you want us to be,” Maggie assures her. “Only if we all agree. We all have equal voices here, Alex.”

“Well,” Lucy scuffs at the dirt with her boot. “I’m up for it.”

Alex smiles at her, softly. She squeezes Maggie’s hand. “Me too.”

“And me,” Maggie agrees.

Alex claps her hands together. “Right. First date, let’s go save some dinosaurs.”

* * *

It takes nearly half an hour to set up the time portal. Vasquez and Kara plant their spike easily, and settle back to watch Maggie, Lucy and Alex try to sneak behind the herd of sauropods.

“So, good first day?” Vasquez asks, taking a flask from their backpack and offering Kara some tea.

“Yeah. It’s been eventful.”

Vasquez laughs. “Settling in okay?”

Kara nods, takes a sip of tea. “James, Dr Olsen is great. He knows so much, not just about modern medicine but prehistoric stuff too, like, beyond all the books I’ve read. And he’s so caring, and so passionate. He’s really great to work with.”

“Glad to hear that,” Vasquez says, pretending not to notice Kara’s blush.

“I met Winn and Lena too, in R&D.”

“Ah, the wonder twins.”

“Everyone here is so passionate about their work.”

“It’s because they’re the best in their fields,” Vasquez says. “The Director gives them free reign to work on something they believe in. It’s not just saving dinosaurs. We can study billions of years of climate change, evolution, at just the press of a button. Your sister’s working to end extinction, not just of prehistoric species but all species. And the stuff Winn and Lena can do with the data we collect, I can’t wait. Everyone here, at the park? They’re gonna help save the world.”

Kara just watches them with shining eyes, speechless.

“Huh. J’onn should hire me to do the ads.”

They sit in silence for a moment, before Kara asks, “So do you go on all the missions?”

“Yeah. The Major and I just stand around making sure the scientists are safe.”

Kara gestures to the sauropod herd. “Does it always go like this?”

“This is pretty quiet, for a retrieval mission.”

“Oh yeah?”

“For starters we don’t have those three bickering all the time. So a couple of weeks back, we went to the late Cretaceous. Sawyer needed some special plant or other for her greenhouse. Anyway, we get there, get the plant, and we’re just setting up the portal when BAM!”

Kara jumps, and Vasquez pats her arm. “T-rex to the face.”

Kara gapes. “You’re not serious.”

“Serious is my middle name.”

Kara stares at them, wide eyed. Vasquez chuckles. “It’s not really. It’s Danger. So there’s this T-rex, ugly thing staring us down, stood right in front of the portal.”

“What did you do?” Kara breathes.

“Alex tripped the portal and we ran straight between its legs.”

Kara breaks into shocked giggles.

“The look on its face was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.” Vasquez is laughing too, and soon the both of them are on the ground, cackling.

After a minute Vasquez pushes themself up, helps Kara to her feet. I’m glad to have you on board, Dr Danvers. Part of me was hoping you’d calm Alex down, but now I see it’s _way_ more fun with the two of you acting up.”

Kara’s face falls. “I wanted to protect Alex. She’s always been there for me, whenever I need her.”

“And you wanted to be there for her too?”

Kara nods. “She might pretend she’s unbreakable, but no one is. Ever since I found out about the park, about what she does, I’ve been scared.”

Vasquez reaches out, rests a hand on Kara’s shoulder. “And I’m scared for me, too. I don’t want to get eaten by a T-rex. But Vas, Alex is all I have. I don’t… I’m not sure what I’d do without her.”

Vasquez squeezes Kara’s shoulder. “You aren’t going to have to find out. We all take care of each other here, Kara. It’s like a family, although don’t let the Director catch you saying that.”

“Why?”

“Because the he’ll have to realise that’s what it is,” Vasquez chuckles. They point out towards where Lucy, Alex and Maggie are stood waving. “Looks like the others are in position.”

“Vas?” Kara asks.

“Yeah.”

“Thank you.”

Vasquez waves back at Alex, some hand signal that must mean _trip the portal_ , because suddenly the white, swirling mass is back, and the herd is startling at something Lucy did, and moving into it.

“Any time, Danvers,” Vasquez says. They shoulder their pack, and hold out a hand. “Well, actually 2017.” Kara laughs and takes their hand, and together they head through the portal.

* * *

All J’onn does when he hears Alex brought back a herd of seven ton reptiles is gently, slowly, lower his head into his hands. A woman from HR knocks on his door and he just waves her in. She places some paperwork on his desk, says something about sending Tim in with the rest.

J’onn waits for the thunk of the three boxes to be set on his desk before he sighs, picks up his pen. The herd has been left to roam freely in one of the huge far paddocks. Kara and James went out with binoculars to check them over, but J’onn’s sure the herd is alright.

J’onn’s computer dings. It’s Lena, emailing him to let him know that the soil samples will be instrumental in some new research she and Winn are undertaking, and inviting him down to the lab to join in. J’onn glances between his computer screen and the boxes of paperwork, and back again. Gently capping his pen, he gets up. He didn’t build this park from scratch to sign papers all day.

His phone vibrates in his pocket as he makes his way down the stairs to the tech labs. Alex has sent a photo of the youngest _Saltasaurus_.

 _Called him J’onn,_ the caption reads.


	2. Mammoths and Magnets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to sobekcrocodile for their help on the first chapter and their suggestions for this one. Quetzalcoatlus is coming.

Kara had been recruited absurdly quickly. Director J’onzz moved fast because an hour after Kara read a confidential email meant for Alex she found him in her waiting room, kept company by a sheepish Alex and Gertrude the arthritic Alsatian.

Alex had explained, J’onn had just sat there with a briefcase in his lap Kara would soon find out was filled with legal papers. And Kara trusted Alex, so she signed the papers between appointments, promised not to tell and tried really hard not to think about _time travel_ and _dinosaurs_ as she treated a rabbit’s sprained paw. She barely gave it a chance to set in until long after J’onn left, after she locked up her little clinic behind her and found Alex waiting for her, leaning on her motorcycle.

“Can we talk?”

“I’m not allowed, remember? And I didn’t read the fine print so you’re going to have to tell me who I owe a kidney to when you come to collect.”

“Kara…”

 “You know your secret organisation isn’t very good at keeping secrets.” Kara sets of down the street, quick enough that Alex has to rush to catch up.

“I really wanted to tell you.”

Kara sighs, slowing down slightly so Alex doesn’t have to jog.

“I hate that you have longer legs than me,” Alex grumbles. “But seriously, Kara. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you, I really am. It’s just… I love this job, we’re doing such good work I can’t lose that.”

“At least I know now, I guess.”

Alex brightens. “More than that, actually. I talked to J’onn - Director J’onzz - he’s agreed to let you come interview!”

“For what?” Kara asks, stopping so forcefully she almost knocks over an old woman. “Oh, I’m so sorry ma’am.” She lowers her voice. “For what, Alex? I’m a vet not a palaeontologist.”

“No, but we need a vet. I mean, another one. You’d be working with Dr Olsen, you’d really like him.” Alex bats her eyelashes dramatically, like she used to do when they were kids and she wanted to rope Kara into doing something ‘for science.’

“You’re going to have to try a lot harder than that.”

“What can I say, Kara? We could do so much _good_ at the park.”

“No, buy me dinner first, then we talk.” Kara points to her favourite Chinese across the street. “After the day I’ve had I need a hundred potstickers and I need them now. Your super-secret time travel facility pays you enough for that, right?”

Alex rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling all the same. “Yeah, it does. So you’ll consider it?”

Kara checks both ways before dragging Alex across the road. “You’re gonna have to sell it _hard_ , but yes for now I’ll maybe, _maybe_ consider it.”

And it’d taken Alex a lot of food, begging, promising they were going to save the world together and that Kara’s clinic would be just fine with Eve but now here she was, fresh from her first trip back in time and already gearing up for another.

“I don’t really want to run into myself and explode the matrix or whatever,” Alex is saying to Lena.

They’re standing in the lab, still mucky and sweaty from herding a group of stubborn _Saltasaurus_ to the far paddocks.

“That’s an easy fix Dr Danvers. All we have to do is send you back to five minutes before you left.”

“You can do that?” Kara asks, the thought of Alex falling into a random volcano still fresh in her mind.

Lena just tilts her head. “We can do anything Dr Danvers.”

“Well not _anything_ ,” Winn starts, but Lena ignores him.

“Are the both of you going?”

Kara nods excitedly, and Alex’s shoulders sag in defeat.

“We have to bring Harriet’s herd back,” Kara explains. “Mammoths are intensely social creatures, without her herd she’d get sick and lonely and-“ Kara’s lower lip trembles, and Alex wraps her arm round her shoulders.

“We’ll bring Harriet’s family back to her, Kara.”

Lena’s watching them, almost curiously, but then the tablet in her hands beeps insistently and draws her gaze away.

“Final checks have been completed. Dr Danvers… and Dr Danvers, is your team ready?”

Alex tugs her phone out her pocket, hits speed dial. Lucy’s phone rings just as she strides into the lab. She nods at Alex.

“We’re here.”

Vasquez and Maggie follow her in, thick parkas in their arms. Alex takes one and wraps it round Kara snugly. Kara beams, face haloed by the fluff lining the hood. There’s a pair of mittens hanging from the sleeves and they dance merrily when Kara waves at James who’s just walked in. The lab doors whoosh closed behind him.

“Ready?” James asks.

Kara nods, her face suddenly solemn. “I have to bring Harriet’s family home.”

James rests his hand on her shoulder, tries to squeeze it through the bulky parka. “You’ve got this Kara.”

Alex is watching Lucy and Maggie struggling to help each other into the coats, arguing over which zipper zips up where.

“A little help, Danvers?” Lucy complains, sticking her hand somewhere inside Maggie’s jacket.

Maggie jumps, swallows, and Alex is so very glad they’re heading to the ice age because there’s only so much of her blush she can control. She quickly helps the two of them out, zipping Lucy’s parka up a little too forcefully against her chin when she winks lewdly.

Lucy boops Maggie’s nose when they’re all bundled up. “You look adorable.”

“Say it at my funeral when I get trampled by three mammoths.”

“You’ll be fine Sawyer,” Vasquez says. “Just don’t spook ‘em.”

They quietly grunt, trying to fit the strap of their tranq gun over their parka. Lena hands Winn her tablet and hurries over to help, gently setting the strap in their shoulder and untwisting it.

“Thanks Doc,” Vasquez says, treating Lena to a crooked smile before they wander off.

Lena twists her fingers together and pretends not to watch Vasquez leave to join the group by the door. She clears her throat, snatches her tablet from Winn.

“Have you run all the checks?”

“Yes, I- I just told you.”

“I’m just double checking,” Lena snaps defensively. She takes a set of portal spikes from the metal case they’re stored in, clicks them together with a magnetic clip. She hands them to Alex. “Bring that clip back, it’s a prototype.”

Winn’s watch starts beeping and he holds his wrist up so Lena can see the timer. Lucy ushers Maggie and Kara out the door to the holding paddock where the rest of their equipment is.

“Shouldn’t be too long,” Alex says. “The herd wasn’t far away when Harriet started chasing us.”

“Try not to bring anything else back.”

Alex looks offended. “Me? Do something unauthorised?”

Vasquez snorts. “Something tells me you could go grocery shopping and come back with a Triceratops.”

Lena pretends to cough, trying to hold back a giggle. Vasquez winks at her. “See you in a bit Luthor, hopefully with a bunch more Harriets.”

They herd Alex towards the lab door. She’s grumbling under her breath, something about paperwork and not wanting to do any damn more of it. Lena smiles and steps up behind the control podium, counting down from ten and flicking switches and buttons in the order she knows by heart. With a roar the portal swirls open, and Lena’s heart makes that proud little flutter it does every time it comes to life.

“Never gets old,” Winn grins.

Lena makes some quip about time travel and gets back to work. A moment later the team appears, pushing the holding paddock doors wide open. Kara’s bouncing up and down excitedly, Lucy and Maggie roaring with laughter and it’s definitely not helping the foul look on Alex’s face. Vasquez just shakes their head and shoulders a backpack, striding purposefully into the time portal.

* * *

It’s cold. Really, really cold. Not that Lucy’s going to be the first one to state that. She made that mistake the last time they travelled to the ice age and neither Alex nor Maggie have let her live it down since.

“What do you think of the weather Luce?” Alex asks cheekily, her foggy breath streaming out in front of her like smoke from a steam train.

“It’s cooollldd,” Kara complains, and Lucy laughs because her nose is already turning red.

“It’s the ice age!” she, Maggie and Alex chime, Vasquez chuckling in the background.

Kara pouts, kicks at a ridge of snow. Maggie takes pity on her and wraps an arm round her shoulders. “It’s okay, little Danvers. Look.”

She points with her free hand. Wide, white plains stretch out around them for miles, covered in a deep layer of snow that rolls away in windswept ridges towards the grey horizon. Far, far in the distance Kara can see a small, dark huddle of creatures.

Kara perks up immediately. “Mammoths!”

Alex frowns. “What are they doing all the way over there?”

“Guys,” Vasquez says, distracted by snow at their feet. “Looks like, well, like a whole herd of mammoths has trampled through.”

“Yeah Vas, they’re over there.” Kara points.

“No, something spooked them.”

“It wasn’t you guys what, five minutes ago did Lena say?”

“I think Lena’s calculations are a bit off.”

“Don’t tell her that,” Lucy warns.

“Y’know Major, I really like time travel. I wanna keep doing it with all my limbs intact.” Vasquez points at something with the toe of their boot. “But Luthor’s maths is the least of our worries.”

They all crowd round Vasquez. The human boot print in the snow stands out crisply amidst the mess of mammoth prints.

“Don’t suppose that’s one of ours,” Maggie sighs.

“Alex?” Kara asks nervously. “What does this mean?”

“Prehistoric hunters,” Alex says. “They could have been after this herd for hours. We need to do something before they wear them out.”

“How’d you wear out a mammoth?” Lucy asks.

“Humans are persistence hunters, they literally just follow their prey until it’s exhausted. They’ve probably set up traps ahead as well.”

Kara’s face is set in a deep frown. She keeps up easily with Alex as they start moving across the plain towards the mammoth herd. Lucy and Vasquez keep to either side, eyes roving constantly over the snow searching for danger. Maggie checks behind them before moving to Kara’s side, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“We won’t just lose the herd if we don’t make it in time,” Kara says, quietly. “We’ll lose Harriet too.”

“Not gonna happen, Kara.” Maggie promises.

She catches Alex’s grateful glance and smiles at her. Alex’s heart trips, her cheeks warming even in the freezing cold. She lets Kara forge on ahead slightly, moving closer to Maggie so she can whisper _thank you_ , and rest a hand at the small of her back.

“Are you attempting physical contact, Danvers?” Maggie whispers back. “Because I can’t feel it through this damn coat.”

“Why are we whispering?” Vasquez stage-whispers exaggeratedly.

“So the mammoths don’t find out how much Danvers and Sawyer are in l-“

“Alex!” Kara’s worried cry carries from up ahead, cutting Lucy off.

Maggie only has time to roll her eyes at Lucy before running after Alex. Vasquez and Lucy swing their tranq guns off their shoulders, catching up in no time to find Alex holding Kara back firmly, Maggie scanning the herd of mammoths with a pair of binoculars.

“They’re gonna hurt them!” Kara shouts, wriggling in Alex’s arms.

“Kara, Kara, calm down!”

“No, Alex, they have spears!”

“And we have tranquiliser guns,” Vasquez says calmly. “Perks of the twenty first century.”

Kara stops struggling long enough for Maggie to hand her the binoculars. “Look, Kara. They’ve stopped.”

Maggie’s right. Kara presses the binoculars hard against her face, watching the ragtag band of hunters crouching down in the snow. She can barely see their faces, their hair long and matted and their beards thick and crusted with ice. They lay their spears down, the weapons dark and dangerous against the snow.

“What are they doing?” Kara asks. She hands Alex the binoculars.

“Probably trying to pick out the weakest member of the herd.”

Kara looks like she’s about to cry and fight someone at the same time. She balls her hands into fists as well as she can whilst wearing thick mittens, the crinkle in her forehead deep. At her side, Vasquez and Lucy are fixing scopes to their tranq guns.

“We’re too far away to get them,” Lucy says.

“And they’ll see us once we get closer.” Vasquez hums. “Never fought a caveman in close combat before.”

“I have,” Lucy grumbles. “In basic, in DC, hell, last time I spoke to my father.”

“What’s the plan you two?” Maggie asks.

“Oh there isn’t one,” Lucy says blithely.

Maggie frowns at her, one arm around Kara and from Kara’s other side, Alex glares too. Lucy sighs dramatically. She takes the binoculars from Alex, gives the hunters a cursory once over.

“We need a distraction. Non-combatants set up the portal, me and Vas’ll cover you.”

“As soon as they see us they’ll come after us,” Alex warns. “They’ll probably think we’re rival hunters.”

“So we do this quickly.”

Alex crouches down and roots in her pack for the portal spikes, tugs them gently apart, the magnetic clip falling into her lap. Kara wordlessly holds out a hand for a spike and Alex doesn’t hesitate giving it to her. Their eyes meet and Kara nods her thanks.

“Remember you’re not bulletproof Kara.”

Maggie laughs. “That’d make this job a lot easier- oh shit.”

The group of hunters is on the move, stalking through the snow, weapons held low at the ready.

“We have to do something, now,” Alex says a tinge of worry in her voice. “If they scatter the herd we’ll never get them back.”

Vasquez helps Alex up, directs everyone into a huddled group. “Okay listen up. We’re going to move towards them until they see us, if Alex is right they’ll leave the mammoths and come for us. We’ll be close enough to the herd that we can set up the portal but it’ll be tight.”

Alex shakes her head. “It’s too easy for them to follow us.”

Vasquez grins, snatches the metal clip that kept the spikes together from her. “I have an idea.”

* * *

There’s seven mammoths in the herd. One, an old female, lags behind the rest. They’ve slowed considerably to help her keep up, making low, comforting grumbling noises in their bellies. The group of hunters isn’t far from them, the traps a half mile up ahead when they hear a cheery shout carrying easily over the frosty air.

“HEY FLINTSTONES!”

They turn to see Lucy, a broad grin on her face and waving a metal pen at them. It glints in the cold light and the hunters freeze, grip tightening on their weapons. Vasquez is at Lucy’s side and they hold out another metal object, the magnetic clip.

“Wanna see some magic, assholes?” Vasquez asks.

Alex ushers Kara and Maggie out from behind the two soldiers and they hurry towards the herd of mammoths, footsteps crunching loudly through the snow. A couple of the hunters make to go after them but Vasquez yells, and Lucy lets go of the pen.

It clinks happily against the magnetic clip, wobbles for a second before Vasquez snatches it.

“That’s it?” Lucy says, disappointed. “That’s your distraction?”

“Worked didn’t it.”

The hunters are staring at the pen in Vasquez’s hand, mouths open and their eyes shining with horror and fear.

“Let’s go before they learn the word for bullshittery.”

Lucy and Vasquez back up slowly towards the others.  The hunters shuffle round, start following. There’s a loud roar, Alex must’ve tripped the portal and suddenly the hunters are yelling and falling back, scrambling over themselves to get away from the swirling vortex.

“Damn, that’s all it took?”

“What a waste of a beautiful demonstration of magnetism.”

Vasquez and Lucy run towards the portal, the mammoths trumpeting in concern as Maggie, Kara and Alex try to coerce them as gently as one can coerce a mammoth through a time portal. They make it through just as Vasquez and Lucy arrive, ushering the others though the portal and running in after them.

* * *

Kara cries when Harriet is reunited with her herd. They stampede towards her noisily, ears flapping, trunks waving and joyous trumpeting filling the air. Alex will never admit it but she cries too, and if she catches Lucy and Maggie discreetly wiping at their eyes she won’t say anything. Kara wraps Alex in a massive hug, tears wet against her neck but her smile wide.

“We did it!”

“Yeah we did. Look how happy they all are.”

Maggie comes over, Lucy close at her side. “Glad you joined us, little Danvers?”

Kara sniffles, laughs. “You know I’m taller than Alex right?”

“Yeah, but Alex’s denial of her rogue side is much, much bigger.”

Alex gasps, a look of mock anger on her face. “I’ll have you know Dr Sawyer, that J’onn just texted me saying we have a normal amount of paper work to fill out for once.”

“For once,” Lucy chuckles. “Roll up roll up, watch the inredible Alex Danvers _do her job_ , exclusive one time only! Also starring the amazing Magnetic Vasquez!”

Vasquez laughs, tugging the magnet out their pocket. “I should take this back to Luthor.”

“I’ll come with,” Alex says. “Guys?”

Maggie and Lucy pile into the jeep parked by the gate to the mammoth paddock, wait for Alex to check with Kara she has a ride back.

“I’m going to wait for James, just make sure the herd’s alright.”

“Okay. Love you.” Alex pulls Kara in for a last hug. “You did so good today. Super.”

Kara laughs. “Super, huh?”

“Yeah, Kara Danvers, super vet.”

“It has a nice ring to it,” Kara says. She waits til Alex is almost at the jeep before she calls out, almost tentatively. “Sister night tonight?”

Alex hops into the jeep, gives her a thumbs up. “You know it, super vet.”

* * *

The tech labs are almost empty when Vasquez wanders in. The sun is setting over the desert, the strip of sky visible through the wide lab windows a stunning palette of oranges and yellows and pinks. The sun’s last rays filter warmly into the lab, but Lena’s sat in a far, shadowy corner, her pale face lit by the stark light of a computer screen.

Vasquez has changed into a t-shirt and dark jeans, and they tuck their hands into their back pockets as they head over to the corner Lena’s working in.

Lena jumps when they set the magnet gently on the table. They smile warmly at her, pulling out a chair from the terminal next to Lena’s and sitting down. They point to the magnet. “That saved our lives today. Well, not really, but it would’ve been funny if it had.”

Lena cocks her head, her eyes bright with interest. “Do tell.”

Vasquez waves a hand. “Did a magic trick for some cavemen, blew their minds. What _I_ wanna know, Doc, is why you’re here so late.”

Lena scoffs. “It’s not that late.”

“Night crew got here two hours ago.”

Lena sighs. “Fine, I’ve been checking through the code to see why I didn’t send you back to the right time.”

“Luthor, you were like ten minutes late, tops.”

Lena rubs at her tired eyes. “That could be the difference between life and death though. What if next time I send you ten minutes after an earthquake, or ten feet to the right and off a cliff… I’d never forgive myself.”

Vasquez gently, briefly pats Lena’s forearm. “Then next time we’ll wear parachutes, just in case. You can’t know exactly what’s going to be on the other side, and no one’s gonna blame you for it if something does go wrong. Your job is to get us there, and Luthor, if you keep giving me toys like that magnet, I’ll make sure I come back.”

Vasquez grins crookedly, their eyes bright in the light of Lena’s monitor screen. Lena can’t really explain why her heart jumps, but she knows why her shoulders suddenly feel lighter. “It’s just a magnet. But thank you, Agent Vasquez.”

“A magnet specially designed so it doesn’t interfere with the delicate electronics of the time portal spikes.” Vasquez smiles at her, their expression soft as they watch Lena fiddle with the magnet, turning it over and over in her fingers. “I know my science. And just Vasquez is fine, Luthor.”

Lena almost blushes. “Yeah? Well just Lena is fine too.”

* * *

Maggie, Lucy and Alex ride back to the city together, bikes kicking up dust against the setting sun. They don’t really discuss it, but after such a long day it feels natural to all pull up at Maggie’s, hold hands in the elevator all the way up to her floor. Alex closes the door, turns to watch Maggie take off her coat, Lucy draw her into a soft kiss.

“Get over here Danvers,” Lucy murmurs.

Alex steps into their waiting arms, lets them pull her into a safe, warm hug. There’s kisses, quiet, tired kisses, and the solid presence of her girlfriends, and Alex feels a weight lift off her she’d barely realised was there.

“This feels nice,” she whispers.

“You want to do this then?” Maggie asks, sincerely.

She and Lucy draw back to watch Alex, shoulders relaxing when Alex nods, a soft grin on her face. “I told you seventy million years ago I want to do this.”

Lucy snickers, kisses Alex’s cheek. “Well you can do it after sister night. Go check on Kara and then come back over.”

“Lucy this is my apartment, you can’t just invite people over like you own the place.”

Lucy pecks her on the lips. “We’re dating now. Su casa es mi casa, y mi novia’s casa, y… actually no that’s it, I want you two to myself. Get used to it Sawyer.”

Maggie chases her into the kitchen, the both of them giggling like school girls and Alex knows she’ll have this warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest for the rest of the night.

* * *

Kara’s dozing on the couch when Alex lets herself in. She’s snuggled in a fluffy blanket, a book on mammoths she must have grabbed from the park’s library lying open on the floor. Alex quietly picks it up, bookmarks Kara’s place. She watches Kara sleep for a moment, her face so calm after the hard day she’d had, before rustling the takeout bags loudly.

Kara’s eyes snap open. “Food.”

“Yeah, your favourite. You’ve earned it.”

Kara happily accepts the food Alex hands her, sitting up and making room for Alex on the couch. “How are the mammoths?”

“Doin’ amahshin,” Kara says through a mouthful of potstickers. She swallows comically. “Amazing. Alex they’re right at home. No complications from the time portal, nothing. And Harriet’s so happy!”

“I’m so glad.”

“We sat and watched them for hours after you left.”

Alex reaches for a napkin. “We, huh?”

Kara blushes, attacks another takeout box. “Me and James. Just to make sure they were okay and settling in.”

Alex nods solemnly. “Of course.”

“It’s my first day, don’t tease me!” Kara whines.

Alex takes  a huge bite to hide her laugh. “Who’s teasing? Not me, no I’m a good big sister I don’t tease about crushes on hunky vets- hey!”

Kara smacks Alex with the pillow again, her laughter ringing out through the apartment. “Put a movie on, asshole.”

Alex reaches for the remote, pulls up Netflix and the two of them settle down, laughing at the cheesy romcom Kara picks, happy and relaxed after a long, but good, day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fueled by soft jazz and cookies.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if I should carry this on. I'm on Tumblr salamadersaurus-rex.


End file.
